Best Practices to Help Your Business Comply with Employment Laws
From the moment you launch a business, there are a series of laws and regulations that you must follow in order to remain in compliance. Employment laws tend to be complex because they are always evolving and every year HR professionals have to get up to speed on changes that went into effect on January 1st. Failure to comply with employment laws can create operational, financial and legal issues that can take months to resolve – sometimes years. While HR is generally responsible for outlining and enforcing laws, leaders across the organization must play a key role in order to ensure compliance. Businesses in every industry and of all sizes must comply with employment laws.
Given the frequent labor law changes, many employers send their HR staff to conferences that provide updates on laws and often have speakers that are attorneys and industry leaders to ensure everyone is up to speed. These events also provide an opportunity to discuss issues and related incidents. Some of the most common topics covered include the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). There are many others, but these are some of the state and federal laws that tend to receive a lot of attention as it relates to employees’ rights.
Significant time is spent on training employees because employers can face stiff penalties if they fail to comply. In addition to penalties, there are many age discrimination law services los angeles ca that provide employees with the support they need to recover damages associated with discriminatory practices. There are also services for individuals who have experienced discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex or disability. Nevertheless, employee training is critical if you want to comply with labor laws and avoid litigation.
Another way to comply with laws is to be diligent in the way in which recruitment is conducted. As an employer, you can be found liable for breaking the law even before you have hired someone if the process used to recruit a candidate was discriminatory in any way. For example, there was a time when recruiters would ask job candidates questions about their ethnicity, religion or marital status and the response of the applicant was considered in the selection process.
A few decades ago, it was also common for candidates to get asked about family planning; women were often asked whether they were planning to have children. They would not be hired if the answer were yes. Although it’s hard to believe now, it was a common practice years ago. There’s a chance that it still happens today, but it’s not the norm. One way that businesses can mitigate this risk and prevent claims of discrimination is by ensuring the recruiting process is meticulous. If you have a strict hiring process that’s in writing and you provide training on approved practices, then you’ll have the backup needed to prove that you are within regulations.
